Payback AU: What If

Act 2.14 - The Weight of Summer Rain

Yoohan had never thought that his first time abroad would be filled with educational activity, research work, and regular hospital visits. He took off for five days plans, but had to call home to inform his mother that he would extend his stay for an unforeseeable time.

Needless to say that the research team was taken aback when he said he wouldn't come back to Korea with them. When they asked for detail, Yoohan just said he would stay with a hyung he knew. The professor looked at him suspiciously, but Yoohan just shrugged with the most poker face he could pull.

"Is this the same person you always sneaked out with during break and at night?"

Sneaked out was an interesting way to put it. Yoohan had garnered their attention the moment he vanished so suddenly just after they checked into the hotel on the first day. At that time, Yoohan was too overwhelmed by the whole 'meeting your lover's mother' event that he forgot to inform the professor about it. He only came back late at night, and was immediately scrutinized. He only said that he met with his acquittance and runaway.

After that, Yoohan never forgot to inform the professor and seniors every time he had other plans, so he thought that calling it 'sneaking out' was too much. But it was true that except for the dinner gala on the last day of the seminar, Yoohan had never joined the other for supper or any other activity. He seemed to have vanished as soon as they reached the hotel. He even came back only in the morning on the third day with a fading mark on his nape, which raised suspicion. But it wasn't like the others had no plan on their own during free time, so when they saw Yoohan's reluctance on sharing more, they fortunately let him off.

Yoohan almost couldn't hold back from coughing when the professor pulled him over and asked him that question. He gulped cautiously, trying to maintain his composure. It wasn't like he wanted to hide it, just that he didn't want to deal with complicated stuff that would follow it. Lee Yoohan was not someone who liked to explain himself. So he just nodded wordlessly.

"Well, as long as you're not pulled into something shady."

Yoohan pursed his lips. What exactly encompassed "something shady" anyway?

"It'll be alright, probably." Anyway, Yoohan probably would spend most of his time in hospital anyway, seeing how Jay's mother asked to talk to him every day.

And that was exactly what Yoohan did within the remainder of his stay. Jay would escort him from the Yoon's townhouse where they stayed in to the hospital, and Yoohan would stay there with Jay's mother until the man came back from whatever it was he'd worked on. It seemed like Jay wasn't here with a leave of absence, but on a business trip instead.

Whatever it was, Yoohan didn't really mind about all these arrangements. He liked talking with Jay's mother and dissing Jay to their heart's content. When she was in treatment, Yoohan would follow and inform Jay on whatever he could understand from the doctor's talk. When she was asleep, he would work on his assignment quietly. It was nice that the room somehow had everything necessary for a comfortable workspace—a nice sofa, air conditioning, and fast wi-fi. The room even had air freshener to chase away the distinct hospital smell. If it wasn't for the frail figure lying on the sickbed, the place would actually feel like a hotel.

Apart from talking bad about Jay, Yoohan also heard all the stories about the man's childhood, especially those that came before the divorce. It was always a fun time talking with Jay's mother, except when Yoohan caught a glimpse of sadness that quickly being replaced with emptiness from time to time. Those gazes most often came when Jay and Yoohan were about to go back, or sometimes as they talked about the happy times when Jay was still the cheerful, innocent, smart kid back then. But when Yoohan wanted to ask about it, she just put his index finger on her lips, shushing him. So Yoohan never asked again.